Wednesday, January 30, 2013

MK elect Dov Lipman gives up US citzenship

Yesh Atid member and future parliamentarian Rabbi Dov Lipman relinquished his US citizenship on Tuesday so as to be allowed to take his seat in the 19th Knesset.

“Today, in a private and emotional moment at the United States Embassy, I renounced my United States Citizenship, enabling me to serve in the Israeli Knesset,” wrote Lipman on his Facebook page. “I thank the United States of America for my 41 years of citizenship and for all it has done for my family and to help prepare me for election to the Knesset and for my remarkable new status — exclusively Israeli — which feels so right.”

Kol Hakavod!

Things for Dov Lipman to be concerned about with his Yesh Atid party leader, Yair Lapid:

1. Yair Lapid is already predicting he will be Israel's next prime minister. Unfortunately, he never finished high school, or completed his baguryot (high-school matriculation exams) or went to college. However, as a media personality he got into Bar Ilan's accelerated doctorate program -- which is supposed to only be for those who finished an undergraduate degree with honors...he was eventually thrown out of the program for not meeting the admission requirements. Granted there are many autodidacts who lack academic accreditation and attain success in business or academics or education; Lapid isn't one of them (keep reading).

Lapid explains why the US Constitution is work of art -- because it was penned by a single author [sic], John Adams[sic], as opposed to a committee [sic] -- which is the way Israel is attempting to create one.

Israel's proposed constitution by consensus is an erudite text, maybe overly so. It lacks the emotional depth of the US constitution, not to mention the moral courage of the “Founding Fathers” to deal with controversial issues. It could be that the different way in which the two constitutions were written influenced their content.

One very inspired man, John Adams, wrote the US constitution. The Israeli proposal by consensus, with all due respect to Meir Shamgar, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was written by a committee.

It would have helped had Lapid has the time, energy or acumen to at least read the Wikipedia article on the US Constitution to know that it WAS written by committee, not one man, and certainly not John Adams who wasn't even on the committee or in the US at the time, he was in London. If you think that's embarrassing, its only the tip of iceberg.

Here's a short video (in Hebrew) with a whole slew of intellectual gaffs by Lapid which appears to show a pattern of attempts to drop names and facts which aren't that factual or connected.

4. Since entering politics a year ago, Yair Lapid tries to portray himself in the political center, however he has always been far to the left. Before entering into politics, he spoke his true colors to Germany's Der Spiegel:

Yair Lapid: The greatest tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that everyone knows how it will end. We will divide up the region. Israel will return most of the West Bank, and the Palestinian flag will fly on public buildings in East Jerusalem. The only unanswered question is how many more people will have to die along the way. And so we will fight against the extremists on both sides, including our extremists, the settlers. When you look at the history of wars, they ultimately revolve around one claim: "My god is better than yours."

It's clear that Lapid is intent on splitting Jerusalem, something Dov Lipman
adamantly denies. He hates settlers and is intent on ensuring
we all know who the "extremists" are. Lipman has gone on record saying
that he's in favor of keeping settlement blocs -- as an FYI, this means
Hebron will be of Israeli control (and it also makes you an extremist to expect the Cave of
the Patriarchs will remain under Israeli control).

5. While Dov Lipman claims that the "real" Jewish Home is his own "Yesh Atid" party, Yair Lapid's Jewish Home is a Reform Temple in Tel-Aviv. I have no issue with Lapid's connection to the Reform movement in Israel, or even providing them with funding which they deserve. I am concerned that the lowest common denominator of Judaism in Israel will be changed (religious status quo of halachik Jewishness), which will fracture the Jewish people in Israel, prevent marriages, and will result in far more disunity than unity.

While many have been extolling the virtues of Lapid, he's simply a popular media personality who lacks the intellectual depth, and moral/ethical foundations required to be a serious leader in Israel, let alone Prime Minister.